slowing down: Ctrl+S responsible? john 17.09.2006 16:59:01 Using XP, Word 2002, and having about 15GB of space left on the C drive: I'm preparing a genealogy-type paper, and I have entered about 150 pages [920KB] of text,- about 150 pp. of index [10 MB - 3 col.-surname, given name, page #, gridlines showing]. I frequently use Ctrl+S, and every couple of days, send the whole mess to E [flash drive]. And I still have to add about 50 pp of text, and about 30 to index. And the machine is getting slow. QUESTION: is my frequent use of Ctrl+S responsible for the increasing slowness - what should I have done - what should I now do to get things going a little better ? TIA

Re: slowing down: Ctrl+S responsible? Jay Freedman <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> 17.09.2006 17:16:12 Frequent saving is *not* the problem, and it's highly recommended! The problem is probably that index, especially if the whole 150 pages are in one table. Word has always had problems with very large tables that extend over many pages. If possible, split the table every few pages. You may find other useful tricks at http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/FastTables.htm. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 09:59:01 -0700, john <john[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: [Quoted Text] >Using XP, Word 2002, and having about 15GB of space left on the C drive: >I'm preparing a genealogy-type paper, and I have entered about 150 pages >[920KB] of text,- about 150 pp. of index [10 MB - 3 col.-surname, given >name, page #, gridlines showing]. I frequently use Ctrl+S, and every couple >of days, send the whole mess to E [flash drive]. And I still have to add >about 50 pp of text, and about 30 to index. And the machine is getting slow. > QUESTION: is my frequent use of Ctrl+S responsible for the increasing >slowness - what should I have done - what should I now do to get things >going a little better ? TIA > >

Re: slowing down: Ctrl+S responsible? CyberTaz <onlygeneraltaz1[ at ]com.cast.net> 17.09.2006 22:55:04 One might also question the advisability of saving to a flash drive (or *any* removable media)... Is saving to your hard drive any faster? Then copy the file to the flash drive. HTH |:>) Bob Jones [MVP] Office:Mac On 9/17/06 1:16 PM, in article 4g0rg2t6ra2p5c1bspnlp4s55lirrkoids[ at ]4ax.com, "Jay Freedman" <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> wrote: [Quoted Text] > Frequent saving is *not* the problem, and it's highly recommended! > > The problem is probably that index, especially if the whole 150 pages > are in one table. Word has always had problems with very large tables > that extend over many pages. If possible, split the table every few > pages. You may find other useful tricks at > http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/FastTables.htm. > > -- > Regards, > Jay Freedman > Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org > Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the > newsgroup so all may benefit. > > On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 09:59:01 -0700, john > <john[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > >> Using XP, Word 2002, and having about 15GB of space left on the C drive: >> I'm preparing a genealogy-type paper, and I have entered about 150 pages >> [920KB] of text,- about 150 pp. of index [10 MB - 3 col.-surname, given >> name, page #, gridlines showing]. I frequently use Ctrl+S, and every couple >> of days, send the whole mess to E [flash drive]. And I still have to add >> about 50 pp of text, and about 30 to index. And the machine is getting slow. >> QUESTION: is my frequent use of Ctrl+S responsible for the increasing >> slowness - what should I have done - what should I now do to get things >> going a little better ? TIA >> >>

RE: slowing down: Ctrl+S responsible? john 18.09.2006 21:24:02 Many thanx to both who responded [I was suspicious of the index] - I am now curious about the suggestion of Cyber Taz regarding the preference of saving to disc instead of to flash drive. I had figured that using the flash was safer - it got it stuff completely as possible away from any possibility of harm, and didn't add anything to the space used in the machine. So [1] what is the problem here ? [2] I've saved to 'My Document' before,but I've never saved directly to C; so I want to understand the process: Am I correct that the path would be File>Save As>Save In>C ? [Incidentally, I defragged, and that helped some] And again, many thanx [Delaware,USA] "john" wrote: [Quoted Text] > Using XP, Word 2002, and having about 15GB of space left on the C drive: > I'm preparing a genealogy-type paper, and I have entered about 150 pages > [920KB] of text,- about 150 pp. of index [10 MB - 3 col.-surname, given > name, page #, gridlines showing]. I frequently use Ctrl+S, and every couple > of days, send the whole mess to E [flash drive]. And I still have to add > about 50 pp of text, and about 30 to index. And the machine is getting slow. > QUESTION: is my frequent use of Ctrl+S responsible for the increasing > slowness - what should I have done - what should I now do to get things > going a little better ? TIA > > >

Re: slowing down: Ctrl+S responsible? "Suzanne S. Barnhill" <sbarnhill[ at ]mvps.org> 18.09.2006 21:53:48 My Documents is just a folder on the C: drive. Its actual path may be something like C:\Documents and Settings\<Profile Name>\My Documents. When people tell you to save to the hard drive, they're not suggesting you avoid My Documents, though most users do create subfolders of My Documents for specific projects or applications. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "john" <john[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:4BBA66D5-AFF1-40B8-816A-744F2ACE697A[ at ]microsoft.com... [Quoted Text] > Many thanx to both who responded [I was suspicious of the index] - I am now > curious about the suggestion of Cyber Taz regarding the preference of saving > to disc instead of to flash drive. I had figured that using the flash was > safer - it got it stuff completely as possible away from any possibility of > harm, and didn't add anything to the space used in the machine. So [1] what > is the problem here ? [2] I've saved to 'My Document' before,but I've never > saved directly to C; so I want to understand the process: Am I correct that > the path would be File>Save As>Save In>C ? [Incidentally, I defragged, and > that helped some] And again, many thanx [Delaware,USA] > > "john" wrote: > > > Using XP, Word 2002, and having about 15GB of space left on the C drive: > > I'm preparing a genealogy-type paper, and I have entered about 150 pages > > [920KB] of text,- about 150 pp. of index [10 MB - 3 col.-surname, given > > name, page #, gridlines showing]. I frequently use Ctrl+S, and every couple > > of days, send the whole mess to E [flash drive]. And I still have to add > > about 50 pp of text, and about 30 to index. And the machine is getting slow. > > QUESTION: is my frequent use of Ctrl+S responsible for the increasing > > slowness - what should I have done - what should I now do to get things > > going a little better ? TIA > > > > > >

Re: slowing down: Ctrl+S responsible? Jay Freedman <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> 19.09.2006 00:04:24 As far as why to save to a hard drive rather than to a flash drive (or any other removable media): There are several hazards associated with editing documents that are stored on removable media. The big one for flash drives is the possibility that the drive could be unplugged or accidentally knocked loose before the document is finally saved and all operations are complete. If the document file isn't properly closed, it might be unreadable when you try to open it again. One thing that's very important in this regard is a hardware setting in Windows. With the flash drive plugged in, right-click any drive icon in Windows Explorer and select Properties. Click the Hardware tab, select the flash drive, and click the Properties button. In the next dialog, go to the Policies tab. Select the option "Optimize for quick removal". That makes sure that all writes to the flash drive happen immediately instead of being saved up for a convenient time. That way, when Murphy's Law strikes, at least you won't have any unwritten data sitting in memory. Copying a closed file from the hard drive to the flash drive has no such problems and is the recommended method for making quick backups. Working with Word documents stored on other removable media has additional problems. CD-RW and DVD-RW used like a big floppy can be flaky, because most packet-writing software isn't as reliable as one would hope. Zip disks and floppies are even worse because of their limited space; Word uses lots of temporary files, many of them by necessity in the folder from which the document was opened, so the disk can fill up quickly. Finally, most removable media are *much* slower than hard disks, so saving becomes tedious. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. On Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:53:48 -0500, "Suzanne S. Barnhill" <sbarnhill[ at ]mvps.org> wrote: [Quoted Text] >My Documents is just a folder on the C: drive. Its actual path may be >something like C:\Documents and Settings\<Profile Name>\My Documents. When >people tell you to save to the hard drive, they're not suggesting you avoid >My Documents, though most users do create subfolders of My Documents for >specific projects or applications. > >-- >Suzanne S. Barnhill >Microsoft MVP (Word) >Words into Type >Fairhope, Alabama USA >Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org >Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so >all may benefit. > >"john" <john[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >news:4BBA66D5-AFF1-40B8-816A-744F2ACE697A[ at ]microsoft.com... >> Many thanx to both who responded [I was suspicious of the index] - I am >now >> curious about the suggestion of Cyber Taz regarding the preference of >saving >> to disc instead of to flash drive. I had figured that using the flash was >> safer - it got it stuff completely as possible away from any possibility >of >> harm, and didn't add anything to the space used in the machine. So [1] >what >> is the problem here ? [2] I've saved to 'My Document' before,but I've >never >> saved directly to C; so I want to understand the process: Am I correct >that >> the path would be File>Save As>Save In>C ? [Incidentally, I defragged, >and >> that helped some] And again, many thanx [Delaware,USA] >> >> "john" wrote: >> >> > Using XP, Word 2002, and having about 15GB of space left on the C >drive: >> > I'm preparing a genealogy-type paper, and I have entered about 150 pages >> > [920KB] of text,- about 150 pp. of index [10 MB - 3 col.-surname, given >> > name, page #, gridlines showing]. I frequently use Ctrl+S, and every >couple >> > of days, send the whole mess to E [flash drive]. And I still have to >add >> > about 50 pp of text, and about 30 to index. And the machine is getting >slow. >> > QUESTION: is my frequent use of Ctrl+S responsible for the >increasing >> > slowness - what should I have done - what should I now do to get things > >> > going a little better ? TIA >> > >> > >> >

Re: slowing down: Ctrl+S responsible? john 19.09.2006 01:08:02 My sincere thanks to Suzanne and to Jay for the very helpful responses. "Jay Freedman" wrote: [Quoted Text] > As far as why to save to a hard drive rather than to a flash drive (or > any other removable media): > > There are several hazards associated with editing documents that are > stored on removable media. The big one for flash drives is the > possibility that the drive could be unplugged or accidentally knocked > loose before the document is finally saved and all operations are > complete. If the document file isn't properly closed, it might be > unreadable when you try to open it again. > > One thing that's very important in this regard is a hardware setting > in Windows. With the flash drive plugged in, right-click any drive > icon in Windows Explorer and select Properties. Click the Hardware > tab, select the flash drive, and click the Properties button. In the > next dialog, go to the Policies tab. Select the option "Optimize for > quick removal". That makes sure that all writes to the flash drive > happen immediately instead of being saved up for a convenient time. > That way, when Murphy's Law strikes, at least you won't have any > unwritten data sitting in memory. > > Copying a closed file from the hard drive to the flash drive has no > such problems and is the recommended method for making quick backups. > > Working with Word documents stored on other removable media has > additional problems. CD-RW and DVD-RW used like a big floppy can be > flaky, because most packet-writing software isn't as reliable as one > would hope. Zip disks and floppies are even worse because of their > limited space; Word uses lots of temporary files, many of them by > necessity in the folder from which the document was opened, so the > disk can fill up quickly. Finally, most removable media are *much* > slower than hard disks, so saving becomes tedious. > > -- > Regards, > Jay Freedman > Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org > Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the > newsgroup so all may benefit. > > On Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:53:48 -0500, "Suzanne S. Barnhill" > <sbarnhill[ at ]mvps.org> wrote: > > >My Documents is just a folder on the C: drive. Its actual path may be > >something like C:\Documents and Settings\<Profile Name>\My Documents. When > >people tell you to save to the hard drive, they're not suggesting you avoid > >My Documents, though most users do create subfolders of My Documents for > >specific projects or applications. > > > >-- > >Suzanne S. Barnhill > >Microsoft MVP (Word) > >Words into Type > >Fairhope, Alabama USA > >Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org > >Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so > >all may benefit. > > > >"john" <john[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > >news:4BBA66D5-AFF1-40B8-816A-744F2ACE697A[ at ]microsoft.com... > >> Many thanx to both who responded [I was suspicious of the index] - I am > >now > >> curious about the suggestion of Cyber Taz regarding the preference of > >saving > >> to disc instead of to flash drive. I had figured that using the flash was > >> safer - it got it stuff completely as possible away from any possibility > >of > >> harm, and didn't add anything to the space used in the machine. So [1] > >what > >> is the problem here ? [2] I've saved to 'My Document' before,but I've > >never > >> saved directly to C; so I want to understand the process: Am I correct > >that > >> the path would be File>Save As>Save In>C ? [Incidentally, I defragged, > >and > >> that helped some] And again, many thanx [Delaware,USA] > >> > >> "john" wrote: > >> > >> > Using XP, Word 2002, and having about 15GB of space left on the C > >drive: > >> > I'm preparing a genealogy-type paper, and I have entered about 150 pages > >> > [920KB] of text,- about 150 pp. of index [10 MB - 3 col.-surname, given > >> > name, page #, gridlines showing]. I frequently use Ctrl+S, and every > >couple > >> > of days, send the whole mess to E [flash drive]. And I still have to > >add > >> > about 50 pp of text, and about 30 to index. And the machine is getting > >slow. > >> > QUESTION: is my frequent use of Ctrl+S responsible for the > >increasing > >> > slowness - what should I have done - what should I now do to get things > > > >> > going a little better ? TIA > >> > > >> > > >> > >